Plans to destroy Palestine were well under way 75 years ago with schemes to legalize land theft. The LandBack movement began in 2018 with efforts in the US and Canada for Native Americans to regain their ancestral lands. The idea quickly spread to Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and even Fiji. LandBack could easily encompass the 104 million Adivasi of India, Native cultures throughout Latin America, and peoples across Africa who have been driven off their land for huge corporate farms, fossil fuel extraction, and desecration of land for “green” energy minerals.
What does the Green Party of St. Louis think about the war against Palestine? And why do we call for LandBack?
Today, there is no place more justified for LandBack than Palestine, where Israeli “settlers” (with military backing) have pushed them off their land and slaughtered them for generations.
According to LandBack “Our struggle is interconnected with the struggles of all oppressed Peoples. It is a future where Black reparations and Indigenous LANDBACK coexist. We are the land.”
Going far beyond economics, LandBack sees land as tied to culture – regaining land is central to efforts by the colonized to assert their existence. It advocates decolonization, dismantling white supremacy, and reclaiming stewardship to save their land, Palestinian efforts to regain their land can become a spark to mobilize LandBack across the globe.
Global support for Palestinians in the face of the horrific attacks by Israel is related to the concept of LANDBACK. It can be confusing because LANDBACK is a concept, and there is also a specific LANDBACK campaign in this country.
The concepts of LANDBACK and Mutual Aid are related to injustices against Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. I created the LANDBACK Friends website to share what I’ve been learning about LANDBACK. And the LANDBACK Friends Facebook group.
LANDBACK Campaign
LANDBACK is a movement that has existed for generations with a long legacy of organizing and sacrifice to get Indigenous Lands back into Indigenous hands. Currently, there are LANDBACK battles being fought all across Turtle Island, to the north and the South.
As NDN Collective, we are stepping into this legacy with the launch of a LANDBACK Campaign as a mechanism to connect, coordinate, resource and amplify this movement and the communities that are fighting for LANDBACK. The closure of Mount Rushmore, return of that land and all public lands in the Black Hills, South Dakota is our cornerstone battle, from which we will build out this campaign. Not only does Mount Rushmore sit in the heart of the sacred Black Hills, but it is an international symbol of white supremacy and colonization. To truly dismantle white supremacy and systems of oppression, we have to go back to the roots. Which, for us, is putting Indigenous Lands back in Indigenous hands.
In addition, LANDBACK is more than just a campaign. It is a political framework that allows us to deepen our relationships across the field of organizing movements working towards true collective liberation. It allows us to envision a world where Black, Indigenous & POC liberation co-exists. It is our political, organizing and narrative framework from which we do the work.
Black Hills
The Black Hills are sacred lands Indigenous peoples have never ceded (surrendered). Mt. Rushmore is an epic display of taking land from Indigenous peoples. When the President went to Mr. Rushmore on July 3, 2020, that was the embodiment of his disdain for Indigenous Peoples and their land rights.
This video shows what happened that day. Some of my friends were there, but not arrested.
HESAPA – A LANDBACK FILM
On July 3, 2020, Land Defenders took to Mt.Rushmore to reignite the fight for the Black Hills and the closure of Mt. Rushmore, a symbol of white supremacy and racism. Now, 21 of those Land Defenders who stood in defense of the sacred Ȟesápa, the ancestral homelands of Lakota and many other Indigenous Nations, are facing criminal charges. Inspired by the action taken that day, NDN Collective has developed the LANDBACK campaign, a mutli-faceted campaign to get Indigenous lands back into Indigenous hands, and empower Indigenous people across Turtle Island with the tools and strategies to do LANDBACK work in their own communities.
What Will Friends Do?
It matters little what people say they believe when their actions are inconsistent with their words. Thus, we Friends may say there should not be hunger and poverty, but as long as Friends continue to collaborate in a system that leaves many without basic necessities and violently enforces white supremacy, our example will fail to speak to mankind.
Let our lives speak for our convictions. Let our lives show that we oppose the capitalist system and white supremacy, and the damages that result. We can engage in efforts, such as Mutual Aid, LANDBACK, and ReMatriate to build Beloved Community. To reach out to our neighbors to join us.
We must begin by changing our own lives if we hope to make a real testimony for peace and justice.
An Epistle to Friends Regarding Community, Mutual Aid and LANDBACK, Jeff Kisling, LANDBACK Friends, Oct 9, 2023
Polycrisis Center 
2 thoughts on “Palestine and LANDBACK”